YahSat broadband service YahClick tops 20,000 subscribers

YahClick is live in 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and South Africa.

The LIVE stand at the Cabsat event being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai. Satish Kumar / The National

Abu Dhabi’s Yahsat is considering launching a third satellite in response to positive take-up of its satellite broadband and linking services, the company’s chief commercial officer Shawkat Ahmed said yesterday.

“We’re exploring the possibility of expanding our satellite fleet based on the positive results we’ve seen so far,” Mr Ahmed said on the sidelines of Cabsat, a satellite telecoms, broadcasting and professional content management event held in Dubai. He declined to give details.

YahSat is considering another satellite launch both as a means of expanding its coverage footprint beyond its existing 28 countries, and to expand its capacity across its existing footprint, he said.

YahSat yesterday announced that it had signed up more than 20,000 subscribers to its YahClick satellite broadband service by the end of December.

YahClick, which largely targets rural communities across developing markets across the Middle East and Africa, was launched in September 2012.

The service has so far been rolled out across just 12 countries of its 28-country footprint, seven of which are in sub-Saharan Africa. The service is also available in Turkey, the UAE, Turkey, Yemen, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

YahSat plans to roll out the service in Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Jordan this year, said Mr Ahmed.

YahClick subscribers generated a monthly average revenue per user (Arpu) of $100-$125 during 2013, the company said.

Masood Sharif Mahmood, the chief executive of YahSat, said: “Part of our mandate as a company is to be the global partner of choice for reliable, innovative and affordable satellite solutions, and a company that is able to drive social and economic growth across continents for both home and business users.”

About 25 per cent of subscribers to the service are located in Nigeria, with Angolan subscribers contributing the highest Arpu levels, said Mr Ahmed.

The company has also enjoyed strong take-up of its YahLink service, which provides communications links for applications including corporate data networks, internet trunking and backhauling for mobile networks.

The satellite that provides such services, launched in April 2012 and is running at 90 per cent of its capacity, well above industry norms, said Mr Shawkat.

YahSat is wholly owned by Mubadala Development, the investment vehicle of the Government of Abu Dhabi.

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